


End

by psychicdreamsandangelwings



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-13
Updated: 2015-07-13
Packaged: 2018-04-09 03:14:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4331622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychicdreamsandangelwings/pseuds/psychicdreamsandangelwings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nothing is worse than the man you love dying in your arms and not being able to do anything to save him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	End

Rick and Daryl are alone in the woods when Rick hears the sound of a gurgled scream, the horrifying sound echoing through the trees that surround them, and Rick's heart stops beating. His palms start to sweat, his chest tightens, and fear like he’s never felt before pierces his skin like a heroin dart. He'd recognize that scream anywhere, it's Daryl's and he knows something horrible has just happened.

He’s afraid to look, afraid for his biggest fears to be confirmed, but he knows he’s got to do something. He turns around just in time to see a bolt from Daryl’s crossbow impale itself through a walker’s eye, dropping him like a rock. But that’s not the only thing that’s fallen. Daryl lays in a crumpled heap next to the decaying corpse, his crossbow dropping with a soft thud beside him.

Rick takes off towards Daryl as soon as he realizes just what the hell happened, legs moving faster than they've ever moved in his life. He reaches Daryl in seconds, falling to the ground next to him, and pulls his head into his lap. The jeans he’s wearing instantly are covered in thick, red blood. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get the sound of Daryl’s shallow, uneven breathing, out of his head. It’s a sound that’ll haunt him for the rest of his life

There's a huge chunk of flesh missing from Daryl's neck, blood squirting out from his carotid artery like water from a syringe. His eyes are wide open and terrified, frantically moving back and forth, as his dirt-covered hands claw at the gaping wound in his flesh. Blood starts to fly from his mouth and drip out his nose as Daryl struggles to talk, struggles to do anything but lay there and drown in his own blood.

"Daryl," Rick manages to choke out, tears already starting to flow down his cheeks. The sound of his voice seems to ground Daryl, give him something to focus on, and he’s no longer frantic and terrified. Now he’s cool and collected, exactly like the Daryl he loves, and it breaks his heart to think Daryl’s keeping everything bottled up because he doesn’t want to scare Rick even more.

"It's okay, I'm gonna fix this. We’ll get you too Hershel, he'll patch you right up." He rambles on until his throat is so tight and closed up he can't force anything out of it. There’s a lump in his throat that’s as big as a grapefruit and he’s finding it hard to even breathe properly. Daryl is unbreakable, irreplaceable, he can't die, not like this.

"Love," Daryl chokes out, his voice so garbled and distorted because of his wound Rick wouldn't have been able to understand him if it wasn't for the fact that he can read Daryl's lips. "Love you. Rick-" Daryl coughs, causing even more blood to fly out of his mouth, the violent action causing his entire body to shake, before he goes absolutely still. The blood seeping from his skin slowly starts to slow down as his heart stops beating and his body grows cold.

He’s gone and Rick’s overcome with grief, unable to do anything but sit there in absolute shock clutching at the dead body of the man he’s loved for nearly ten years. His shoulders shake as sobs wreak havoc on his sore body. How was he going to tell the prison, how was he going to tell Judith? What would they do without him? Judith’s only nine, Daryl is her everything, and there’s no way she’ll come back from this. None of them will, they just can't. Daryl means everything to the group, the thought of him leaving this world is foreign to him.

It's nearly twenty minutes before Rick's able to do anything more than just sit there. By then he’s numb, body and heart doing their best to protect themselves from the painful ache that only expands throughout his body. He's wasted enough time sitting there, stroking Daryl's face as he tries to comprehend just what the hell he's going to do with Daryl gone, and he knows he needs to do something. There’s no way to tell how long it takes for someone to turn, everyone’s different, and there’s no way in hell he’s going to let Daryl become one of those things. He doesn’t deserve that.

Rick kisses Daryl one last time, runs his blood-soaked fingers through his tangled hair, before he pulls out his gun and cocks it. The sound of the gunshot echoes through the surrounding woods just as loud as Daryl’s scream from earlier.

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I actually went through with this. Bonus points to who ever can find where I referenced The Script.
> 
> Come find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/assbuttrickyl)


End file.
